My nephew requested a Star Wars-themed cake for his 8th birthday. I decided to try to do something similar to the fondant-covered Storm Trooper cake but with Darth Vader which I copied from a Darth Vader picture.
I layered two 9 X 13 sheet cakes (baked from store-bought mix) with store-bought frosting in between. Using a picture of Darth Vader’s mask that I found on-line I trimmed the outline of his head/mask. I think did a crumb coat using buttercream frosting. To get the dimensions (of his mouthpiece and “eyebrows” I used scraps leftover from trimming the cake. I then crumb coated these as well. I used homemade marshmallow fondant tinted with a lot of the Wilton gel color in black. The eyes and mouthpiece were blue only because I couldn’t seem to make grey.
More Darth Vader Cakes
This cake was for my nephew’s 6th birthday. He was having a Star Wars themed party and asked for a Darth Vader cake. I got the idea of the Darth Vader head from a Darth Vader picture.
I used a 9 inch round cake pan and cut and shaped the head. You can’t tell from the picture but I used extra cake to build up the mouth area to give it depth like the real thing. I used Pillsbury cake and Pillsbury frosting tinted black.
I didn’t think the Darth Vader head was enough for all the kids to eat so I did another cake, 13×9 (same brand) and piped a light saber. I frosted the cake with white icing and then used the spray frosting for more color. The light saber is filled in with edible red glitter that I found in Michaels.
The idea for this cake came from the Darth Vader picture on helmets kids wear while fighting on the dark side. I used three 8-inch rounds and one 6-inch round stacked (supported after two layers) and carved to shape. Triangles and rectangles I cut from a square cake and added on for the mouthpiece and at the base to gently flare the helmet.
It was covered with butter cream then chocolate fondant dyed black. Chocolate fondant balls were used for the eyes and pieces were cut for the rest of the mask. I painted the silver part with silver luster dust and vanilla extract. I made sure the fondant was shiny with a coat of shortening before delivering it to the birthday boy.
I carved the shape of this cake from a large sheet cake copying a Darth Vader picture. Whenever I need to make black icing I use chocolate icing as it is much easier to tint black and maintain consistency. I used the dark orange and blue to give the face some depth…
Cake by Sharon D., Augusta, HA
I struggled when a friend asked me to make her son’s Star Wars cake. I had NO clue what to do and I also had a difficult time finding ideas on the net. I came across a Darth Vader picture……but it was only half of his face and I thought maybe that would be less work…less to mess up!!
And it would leave plenty of space to write a message. Good luck on your future cakes!
Cake by Donna R., St James, NY
This was done freehand after an internet search of how to draw Darth Vader and by looking at a Darth Vader picture. Next time I would use grey or silver instead of white for accents or black gel and icing for contrast and I would transfer pattern to the cake and maybe try to make it more 3 dimensional by building up the icing on parts of the face.
This is easier than it looks in my Darth Vader picture! Just venture out to your local toy store to buy a plastic Darth Vader mask to be used as a mould and visit a cake making store for ready-made icing (that can be molded) and good quality black food dye (again from a professional cake making store).
Prepare a couple of sponges (tea cake is best as it is firm) and when cool, cut in to pieces that roughly match the shape of the mask. Line them inside of mask with plastic cling-wrap. Then layer the inside of the mask with the sponge, pushing it down as you go. I added a filling – something substantial that won’t squish out when you add the next layer of sponge, such as thick homemade custard.
Continue to fill the mask with sponge to the rim, again, pushing down; then refrigerate overnight. The next day, turn the sponge onto a plate. Now you are ready to make the icing.
Again, taking the mask, only this time line the outside with plastic cling-wrap. Add enough food dye to the icing to achieve a deep black colour. Knead the icing until the colour is uniform. Roll out the icing, using icing sugar powder to stop it sticking to the table and the rolling pin. Now carefully lift the sheet of icing over the mask, molding it into shape so that the detail in the mask is visible.
Refrigerate for one hour – not too long or the icing will harden too much and become unworkable. Carefully lift the icing ‘mask’ from the mould and onto the cake. Then use left over icing to mould additional detail like the breathing vents, and to make the eyebrow ridge more prominent. I used black gel to fill in-between the vents and some silver powder for the bolts around the mouthpiece.
This is a pretty simple process; you don’t even have to look at a Darth Vader picture to create this cake (you already have the mask that helps you out).
Cake by Susan T., Myrtle Beach, SC
This Darth Vader picture cake was for a seven year old. It is a stacked cake. The bottom layer is a half sheet cake. The Darth Vader head is a 9×13 cake cut in the shape of the helmet, covered in black rolled fondant. The fondant was store bought, but I added clear almond and butter flavorings to improve the taste. The mouthpiece is also a piece of cake covered in fondant, which gave the cake dimension.
The corners of the helmet are made from rolled fondant and placed to look as if they are standing up from the cake, again to add dimension. It took a lot of black food paste to tint the fondant, so have patience! I also made buttercream icing and tinted it black to pipe the accents on the helmet and the eyes.
There was so much black, I decided to use white to pipe the birthday message. This turned out to be a very heavy cake as a result of all the fondant, so be careful when transporting!
Cake by Stephanie W., Palm Bay, FL
I made this Darth Vader picture cake from a 9×13 sheet cake that I cut into the shape of Darth Vader’s helmet. I used the scrap pieces to build up the mouth area, and used frosting to make the rest of the contours.
My son suggested I make the cake part out of red velvet cake so it would look like he was bleeding when we cut it. I used dark chocolate frosting because I couldn’t find any black food coloring. I then used foil to make the eyes and nose.
Cake by Diana G., New London, OH
I just came up with this Darth Vader picture cake. I used a Darth Vader mask and got some Star Wars rings for around the cake. I put flames around the cake and put the mask on it. The second time I made it for a kid’s party and it was very easy. The kids loved it and all the parents asked me where I brought it from.
My son wanted a Darth Vader picture cake for his Star Wars theme birthday party. I used a two cake mix rectangle pan. I drew Darth Vader from a picture with black icing. The fire is just yellow and red icing swirled together.
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